For Immediate Release – 12/08/12

The Open Mind of Lafcadio Hearn
in New Orleans
Book and Art Exhibition
October 18 —28, 2012
Jones Hall 2F, Jones Gallery, Tulane University, New OrleansOrganizers:
The Planning Committee for The Open Mind of Lafcadio Hearn in New Orleans / City of Matsue
Co-organizers:
Asian Studies Program & Louisiana Research Collection of Tulane University
In cooperation with Japan Club of New Orleans / Japanese Garden Foundation of New Orleans / Japanese Society of New Orleans
Supported by 	City of New Orleans / Consulate-General of Japan at NashvilleP

2009 in The American College of Greece, Athens. InOctober of the following year it was reheld in Matsue
Castle and the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum (inone of Hearn’s most beloved towns) primarily basedon works by Japanese artists. Continuing on from thissuccess, the exhibition once again went overseas, and washeld in autumn of 2011 in the Nippon Club of New York.
There they displayed original publications of Hearn’s
writings alongside pieces of art. The collaboration of art
and beautifully bound books (The Efstathiou Collection)
was enjoyed by many visitors.
Matsue is an official friendship city of New Orleans,a beautiful town from the 18th century. Both cities sharethe common point of having a lake and river as part ofthe city. Tulane University which will be this year’s venue
for the art exhibition also houses one of the best Hearncollections in the world. Thus Tulane University as thevenue for the Hearn Exhibition has a very deep meaning.

atrick Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo)
lived in New Orleans for ten years from 1877
to 1887 working as a journalist. For Hearn who
was accustomed to buying one way tickets and travellingthe world, this was one of his most lengthy stops.
Hearn started off his life in New Orleans with a fresh
perspective of “The Gate of the Tropics”, that emits anorange radiance, writing that “New Orleans is especiallya city of verandas, piazzas, porches and balconies”, andHearn was gradually drawn into the blended Creole
culture during his stay. He was completely absorbed in his
search of uniquely Creole proverbs, music, cuisine, voodoo,graves, ghost stories, and so on. Hearn also published fourbooks during his time in New Orleans, thus seriously
beginning his career as a writer. There isn’t a shadow ofa doubt that it was because of Hearn’s ten years in New
Orleans where multi-cultural society was flourishing that
his sense of non-prejudice and open mind fully matured.
Hearn was born to an Irish father, Charles Hearn,
and a Greek mother, Rosa Kassimati, on the Ionian
Island of Lefkada, June 27th 1850. Having been separated
from his parents at an early age, Hearn spent hischildhood in Ireland before travelling to the four cornersof the globe and eventually settling in Japan in 1890.
Hearn interpreted his new homeland objectively throughhis own unique perspective, growing to understand, andto love Japan. There is a lot that we of the modern day canlearn from Hearn’s unprejudiced ideals and openness.
The Open Mind of Lafcadio Hearn*1 art exhibition
was organized and held for the first time in October ofImplementation
Hearn’s Open Mind, in other words his tolerance
and cooperative mindset, materializes in many of hiswritings. In particular, Gombo Zhebès and La Cuisine
Creole written during his time in New Orleans, and TwoYears in the French West Indies written in the Antilles
with the same Creole cultural backdrop. Hearn praised
the blended culture of the Creoles, and his openmindedness regarding the contact and fusion of cultures
was a new way of thinking that crosses over to modern1

post-colonialism.
‘The Open Mind of Lafcadio Hearn in New Orleans’
will display approximately 23 pieces from the 2010
exhibition in Matsue Castle; 2 pieces from The American
College of Greece; 3 of his favorite items from theLafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum in Matsue; 26 offirst editions of the books mainly from his time in New
Orleans (Rare Book Collection, Special Collections,Howard-Tilton Memorial Library,*2 Tulane University).
Pieces by the artists freely expressing Hearn’s life,philosophy, and open-mindedness as interpreted from hisworks and letters will be displayed along with the artists’remarks. The beautifully designed covers of Hearn’s
original publications create a harmonious display alongwith Hearn’s memo pad that he used as a journalist in
New Orleans, and his favorite pen and inkwell, sharing
with the viewer a sense of Hearn’s journalistic and writer’sspirit.

the modern art created a unique atmosphere.
On both occasions, a sculpture of the same name as theexhibition, created by New York artist Noda Masaaki,
was erected in Athens and in Matsue. In 2011, as one of its
international locations, the exhibit was held in New York.
There the art was displayed along with the addition of adisplay of beautifully bound original publications of Hearn’sworks (property of Efstathiou).
The New Orleans exhibit is being held in 2012 incooperation with Tulane University. Respect for Hearn’s open
mind is continually growing, and the exhibition will be held inToyama Prefecture (Japan), where is located “Lafcadio Hearn
Library”, in 2014.
*2. Rare Book Collection, Special Collections, HowardTilton Memorial Library
The University of Tulane was originally established in1834 as the Medical College of Louisiana, and was officiallyinaugurated as Tulane University in 1884. Tulane University
has one of the most preeminent histories of American
universities, and is even referred to as the Harvard of thesouth. Hearn learned much about Creole culture and medical
practices through Rudolph Matas, a young doctor recently
graduated from Tulane University. Hearn’s first publishednovel, Chita (1889), was written with the aid of Matas. The
Lafcadio Hearn Room, a special collection in The HowardTilton Memorial, was opened in March of 1941, where Dr.
Matas himself delivered the memorial speech. The majority ofThe Howard-Tilton Memorial Library’s collection is made upof books donated by the Howard Memorial Library in 1940.
What is interesting about this is that it was none other thanHearn himself who wrote a review article on the opening of thelibrary published in the Times Democrat, yet another curious
coincidence.

*1. The Open Mind of Lafcadio Hearn‘The Open Mind of Lafcadio Hearn’ is a project that has
been nurtured by Takis Efstathiou (Art Coordinator,Greece) since 1996.
Thanks to his passion and hard work, the world’s first
Lafcadio Hearn themed art exhibition was held in The
American College of Greece Athens in 2009.
The following year, with 2010 marking the 120th anniversary
of Hearn’s arrival in Japan and the 160th anniversary of hisbirth, the art exhibition called on even more artists and wasthis time held in the castle and Lafcadio Hearn Memorial
Museum of Matsue city.
The collaboration of the 400 year old historical building andPeriodVenue

October 18 -28, 2012
mon - sat: 10:00am - 6:00pm sun: 12:00pm - 6:00pm
Jones Hall 2F, Jones Gallery (Room 200), Tulane University, New Orleans
map: http://tulane.edu/about/visiting/uptown-campus-map.cfm (Building 25)

URL
http://tulane.edu/liberal-arts/events.cfm
Free Entrance

Lecture by Bon Koizumi & Opening Ceremony followed by Reception
October 18, 2012 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Jones Hall, Tulane University
6:00pm - 7:00pm Lecture by Bon Koizumi (Lafcadio Hearn’s Great Grandson)
7:00pm - 8:00pm Opening Ceremony and Reception
Contact Information1) Bruce Raeburn, Director of Special Collections tel: 504-865-5688 e-mail: raeburn@tulane.edu
2) Lee Miller, Head, Louisiana Research Collection tel: 504-314-7833 e-mail: lmiller@tulane.edu
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Lafcadio Hearn
1889, Philadelphia3Lafcadio Hearn
La Cuisine Creole, A Collection of Culinary Recipes

New York: W.H.Coleman
1885
Rare Book Collection, Special Collections, Howard-Tilton Memorial LibraryThis is one of three books published for the New Orleans
World Expo. Hearn wrote down and gathered numerous
recipes from seasoned Creole housewives, making it the very
first publication of a collection of Creole recipes. Hearn’s keeninterests in Creole culture and his efforts as a folklorist areevident in this book.

Lafcadio Hearn
KwaidanHoughton, Mifflin & Co.
1904
Rare Book Collection, Special Collections, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library

The best of Hearn's works which belong to the genre of retold
tales. He rewrote Japanese traditional grotesque tales narrated
by his wife, Setsu, in English, having infused literary spirits inthem. Hearn wrote this book to persuade the universal truth
which he believed is the mental base for human beings to liveon. The book has been translated into many languages.

4Ynez Johnston
USA

Ocean Images

33.5×30.5cm
water colors on shikishi paper
2010
Collection of Matsue City

Johnston’s work is characterized by ‘ jigsaw’ shapes
reminiscent of primitive designs. Her uniquestyle blends modernism and ancient art forms
from her travels to Africa, Greece, Italy, Mexico,
India, Japan and Nepal. It was these journeys
that perpetuated her interest in exoticism and amythical world, and this penchant for the foreignor otherworldly is embodied in the present homage
to Lafcadio Hearn.
Megakles Rogakos
Former ACG Art Curator of The American College of Greece

Masaaki Noda
Japan (act: USA)The Open Mind of Lafcadio Hearn
55×27.5×18cm
stainless steel
2010
Collection of Matsue City

The two waves of the upper section cross and join
at the sculptures centre to signify the connection
and interaction between the East and the West,and also form a clear opening. The heart shapeembodies Hearn’s open mindedness and isdesigned to share said open mindedness far andwide amongst the next generation.
This sculpture located in The American Collegeof Greece Athens and on the shore of Lake Shinji
symbolically connects both countries.
These two sculptures modeled on Hearn’s tolerance
and open mind have been entitled “The Open
Mind of Lafcadio Hearn”, and lend the same nameto the coinciding events.

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